Uber Alles potatoes: the idea came from five friends during a trip to London. They were looking for something typical and not far from the hotel, and they landed in a pub where the owner declared that hers were the best baked potatoes in town. They order several, from the classic butter, sour cream and bacon to the variant with chicken and sauces, but the result on the palate, beyond the incensing of the restaurateur, was anything but satisfactory: heaviness and bland taste. One of them then decided to challenge the owner to cook one Italian baked potatoes, in exchange for understanding the secrets of the traditional recipe and made the Threecolore with stracciatella, songino and cherry tomatoes. That night the idea of Gialle&Co the first format of gourmet baked potatoes opened in Milan in 2017 in Via Moscova, which has met with such great success both in terms of public appreciation and visibility (media, social, etc.) as to record a turnover of almost 300 thousand euros in 2018, expected to more than double this year, and has so far recorded more than 20 thousand customers.
And, on the wave of this success, it is now also aiming abroad with a expansion plan which provides for others 12 restaurants by 2022 with the hiring of 125 employees and an expected turnover of 10 million euros. The second and third premises will be financed by a large crowdfunding campaign through Mamacrowd.com, the first Italian platform for raised capital, launched on March 26, active for two months, starting from an overall estimate of the venue valued at 1,9 million euros.
“We aim to achieve within a time horizon of 4 years 10 million turnover, to open up the capital to a partner who can support us in our global growth” says the CEO Davide Minardi. Bak srl, the company that controls the Gialle&Co. is made up of 5 partners with an economic-financial background but with a great passion for Italian cuisine. The various work experiences in the consultancy, financial, commercial and marketing fields have made the complete team for the development and monitoring of the Gialle&Co. project.
“We are one innovative start-up suitable for a clientele that varies in terms of age (from 25 to 55 years old), with seasonal recipes for every diet (vegetarian, vegan) and need (celiac disease), reasonable prices and quick service, also ideal for those in a hurry (or lunch break).”
The successful idea of Gialle&Co was to transform and reinterpret the typical English baked potato in an Italian key by proposing the first baked potato declined in fifteen signature recipes and other seasonal ones. There is something for everyone: from Fishytarian to Veggytarian, from Meatarian to Vegan. The proposals of Gialle&Co. they have fun and ironic names, like the concept of the restaurant: they are divided into Fishytarian, for fish lovers, Meatarian, for those who cannot do without meat, Veggytarian and Vegan for green people. Twelve classic proposals and three more seasonal ones that enrich the choice of menus. The signature dishes of Gialle&Co. they are undoubtedly the Dr. Salmon & Mr. Butter (with Norwegian smoked salmon, herb butter, crème fraîche, pumpkin seeds); Mortacci Yours (with crunchy bacon, carbonara sauce and pecorino); Mamma's (with Bolognese ragout, béchamel, parmesan) and Semper Green (sweet gorgonzola, leeks, pistachio).
“The first Gialle&Co. has been studied down to the smallest detail, based on cornerstones that make it a repeatable and scalable format: product verticality (essentially single product), low food cost, ease of storage, high turnover of stock and therefore low deterioration of raw materials, standardization of manufacturing processes, search for a quality raw material such as Fucino IGP potatoes, maximum attention to product standardization with monitoring of the food cost per point of sale through a management program already designed for the opening of new points of sale”.
